“It makes no difference if weapons are carried in the open or concealed,” Ted Jennings writes at timesunion.com asserts. “They are for killing. The size and style don’t matter. Guns are for killing. The what and who and where and why of gun registration don’t matter. The guns and bullets people buy and own and store and even lock up are for killing . . . Of course, ‘Guns don’t kill people.’ But guns and bullets are for killing, and that’s why people buy and own and carry them.”
And? Setting aside any debate over hunting, you’d think recent events would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that there are evil people in this world who need shooting and killing. If an armed American encounters one of these people doing a dastardly deed — posing an imminent, credible threat of grievous bodily harm or death — the good citizen should shoot to stop the threat. Yeah, about that . . .
The People of the Gun use the phrase “shoot to stop the threat” to dodge public opprobrium and legal blowback from an act of firearms-related justifiable homicide. I mean, God forbid you should shoot someone with the intention of killing them! Even if they’re a terrorist in the midst of mass murder.
Question: are supporters of firearms freedom pussyfooting around? Should we be more rhetorically aggressive with those who think guns are too dangerous for civilian ownership?
Should we say, hell yes, guns kill people. In good hands, they kill bad people. In bad hands, they kill good people. I know which one I am and I’m ready to protect myself, my family, my community and my country. Are you? Well are you, punk?